


Case File 40/02

by Miss_Spectre



Category: Better Call Saul (TV), Breaking Bad, Breaking Bad & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Oral Sex, Sexual Content, Trigger warning: Eating disorder
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-07-24 12:00:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7507474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Spectre/pseuds/Miss_Spectre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[set somewhere in 2002, but before Better Call Saul starts] </p><p>James McGill finally gets a new and attractive client - who gets to see his embarrassing "office" at the back of the nail saloon during their first meeting - and who nevertheless wants him to be her lawyer..</p><p>[ah yes, I'll also have it set in England..]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Outside the rain was pouring hard. Betty was glad that she had made it inside in time. The distinctive smell of nail polish hung heavily in the damp air. The Asian ladies, working on mani- and pedicures looked up and smiled at the young woman. Betty looked at the piece of paper in her hands. Written on it was the address of the building she had just entered. But she had been expecting a lawyer‘s office instead of a nail saloon.  
„Uhm, I was looking for Mister James McGill..“ she addressed the manager of the nail saloon.  
„Ah yes, Mister McGill‘s office is right here,“ the woman pointed in the direction of some back-room.  
„Okay, thank you, Miss,“ Betty gave the woman a relieved smile and walked through the bead curtain that separated the nail saloon from the small hallway leading to the back-room. On the door of the room was a piece of paper which read „James McGill Esq.“  
Betty knocked twice at the door and waited. She straightened her blue, light summer dress and ran her fingers through her hair once more so that it would look combed. She was nervous. This was the first time that she was going to a lawyer and she didn‘t know what to say or do exactly.  
The door got opened by a man who - judging by the paper on the door - had to be James McGill. He was quite a bit taller than her and also quite lean. He had brown hair and grey eyes. His suit was of a darker shade of grey and he was wearing a blue striped tie on his white shirt. He gave her a warm smile.  „Ah, hello, you must be Miss Elisabeth Hardman,“ he shook her hand, then pointed towards the door „come in, please,“ he seemed just as nervous as Betty felt. He held the door open for her to step into the room. 

Betty was surprised at how small the room was. Mr. McGill's desk seemed to fill half of the room and there was barely any space to move the chair in front of his desk a few inches back to sit on it. Behind the chair was a sofa. Mr. McGill had stepped into the room as well and - since Betty was still standing - stood quite near her. He smelled like aftershave - something that smelled somehow fresh but incredibly like all men-aftershaves smell - and coffee.  „I apologize for this room,“ he said nervously, his eyes meeting hers, „you can just sit down on the sofa, if you don‘t mind.“ He usually never invited any clients here, but she had called from a blocked number and left him a voicemail stating that she‘d come over in the afternoon, hoping that he‘d have some spare time for her. 

She had sat down and was looking around the room.  
Jimmy got himself a note pad and a pen and walked around his desk to sit down on his visitor‘s chair which he turned around so he was looking at his client. She was the first one who had called in weeks and he was quite excited to have a new case and make some money - he was basically living off coffee and cigarettes (and the alcohol in the evenings) these days. He was kind of praying that this small room which you could barely call an office wouldn‘t scare her away.  
„So, what did you do?“ he asked and gave her another warm smile. The blue dress looked good on the thin, young woman. Her brown hair was falling over her shoulders in beautiful waves. She was beautiful, but she seemed quite anxious.  
„I.. I was drunk,“ she began and a smile crept onto his lips, a lot of his client‘s stories started like that.  
„What happened and when?“ he asked in a soft tone.  
„On New Year‘s Eve.. I drank too much and a friend came over quite spontaneously and I drove his car. And I crashed into another one..“ she looked at him anxiously.  
„So drunk driving..“ he murmured, scribbling onto the pad, „anyone hurt?“  
„No, I don‘t think so.. When the airbags opened I was too shocked to drive any further,“ she ran her fingers through her hair again.  
„What happened then?“ Jimmy went on asking, his eyes wandered over the body of the woman. The dress had quite the deep neckline.  
„Well, we called the police and they took me along and questioned me about what happened..“ „Did you tell them anything?“ „I told them everything.. How much and what I drank that night and so on,“ Betty met his eyes.  
She felt calmer since they had begun to talk. Mr. McGill was quite friendly and his voice had a calming effect on her. He furrowed his brows.  
„Damn, that makes it much harder for us now.. You wouldn‘t have had to tell them anything, you know? Not without a lawyer..“ he sighed.  
„Well I was too scared.. I never did anything and.. I rarely ever drove before..“  
„Why‘s that?“ the lawyer tilted his head and looked at her asking.  
„I don‘t have a driver‘s license. But a friend of mine taught me - ages ago - how to drive his Porsche, so I knew how to drive.. That‘s why I suggested to my friend that I could drive us home, you know? Cause I thought that I didn‘t have anything to lose,“ she answered.  
„You.. Alright, so we don‘t have just drunk driving, but also driving without a license,“ Jimmy scribbled more onto his note pad.  
„Is it going to be bad?“ Betty asked anxiously.  
„Well, since you confessed it all to the police already and - did they take blood?“  
„Yes, they did..“ Betty nodded. He sighed again.  
„Okay, here‘s what we can do - we‘ll tell that it was a night of drinking - but all spontaneous, right? Because New Year‘s Eve is a special night anyway and you normally wouldn‘t drink that much.. And - as it often happens when one‘s drunk - you got a stupid idea which you followed through. But the fact that you called the police and were honest can be seen as that you show remorse for what you did,“ he gave her a smile, „what do you think?“  
„This sounds plausible. But what will the sentence be?“ she sounded very anxious again.  
„How old are you, if I may ask?“  
„I‘m eighteen, why?“ Betty answered, meeting the grey-blue eyes of the man. For a split second he looked astonished.  
„Well.. then your case will most likely be falling under juvenile law. This makes the sentences less bad. Some community service and a certain amount of time where you won‘t be allowed to make your driver‘s license, I presume,“ he explained.  
_Eighteen?_ Wow, he hadn‘t thought that she was _this_ young. 

„So, how does this all go on now?“ Betty went on asking.  
„Well, you‘ll sign me this piece of paper, which is basically a contract between the two of us. And then I‘ll get the mail that the court sends you and I‘ll answer it and once you get the invitation to your trial we‘ll go there together and I try and give my best so you won‘t have to spend the rest of your life doing community service,“ he winked at her.  
„Oh -okay..“ Betty nodded,“ uhm, are you ..expensive? I‘d have to pay your bills myself and I don‘t have incredibly much money.. I‘m sorry that I have to ask this..“  
„Well, the hourly price is 140 pounds,“ Jimmy answered, „but we could find a way to make it less expensive, if that‘s too much for you to pay.“  
Jimmy knew that he actually couldn‘t go down with his price, but at the same time he was glad to have a client at all, so he preferred to get a bit less money, but still get some. And she seemed like a very nice person.  
„That‘s very kind of you,“ Betty answered, her eyes meeting his again. She was glad that he wanted to take up her case. Her eyes wandered over the man sitting in front of her, he looked tired and somewhat exhausted.  
„Would you like to have a coffee with me?“ she asked, „I mean if it doesn‘t mess up your schedule.“  
Jimmy looked up from his note pad and met her eyes again. She seemed to be honest about asking him to have a coffee together - an idea which she might have gotten from looking at all the empty coffee cups in his office.  
„Well, yes - it‘s always nice to get out of here,“ he chuckled and got up, throwing the note pad on his desk and opening the door of his office.  
„After you, Miss,“ he said and gave the young woman a quick smile and a wink. The space between where he was standing, holding open the door for her and the edge of his table was very small. Betty stepped through it, her arm brushing his.

They drove to a small café which she sometimes went to. It had one wall full of old books and the air always smelled like coffee and cake. She loved the place.  
„There you go,“ Mr. McGill, who had insisted that he would get them the coffee, had walked up to the table she had picked and put the two cups onto it.  
„Thank you, but you really didn‘t have to pay this,“ she said, feeling a bit bad. Getting coffee had been her idea after all, to somehow pay him the counseling time. And to be able to talk a bit more with him.  
„Never mind,“ he sat down and poured sugar in his coffee.  
„You can call me Betty, by the way,“ she said and held out her hand in his direction, giving him a smile. He shook her hand again, „James, but you can say Jimmy if you want.“ He smiled back.  
The talked about a lot of things. His other cases and clients, the city, life in general, bands they loved.  
Jimmy noticed that she was smart and witty, he liked her puns and answered them with his own. She was nice and he was glad that he had gone out with her for coffee. 

Betty eased up, talking to him. He had a warm and soft voice, told just the right amount of bad jokes and his eyes sparkled as he was talking to her. She felt comfortable sitting on this table in her favorite café.  
It was evening already when they eventually stepped out of the café. Betty breathed in the summer evening air. It smelled like BBQs and freshly cut grass.  
„I‘m dying of hunger, aren‘t you?“ Jimmy looked at Betty.  
„Well, in fact, I am, hey - I know a great restaurant we could go to,“ she suggested, „I‘ll invite you.“ 

They went to a steak house. Betty loved the place - they had the best steaks in town. And every now and then - whenever she had some money left - she went there. They ordered a bottle of red wine.  
„Why me?“ Jimmy asked suddenly.  
„Sorry?“  
„Why did you come to me with your case? Why not H,H&M or any other lawyer?“ he asked.  
„Hm, I don‘t know, I think I once saw some ad of yours in a newspaper or so and it must‘ve stuck with me,“ she answered and laughed nervously.  
„Oh, that..“ Jimmy murmured and drank from his wine.  
„Why are you asking?“  
„Just out of interest..“ he answered.

„How often do you eat with your clients?“ she asked him, whilst cutting her steak into smaller pieces.  
„I rarely do.. They normally await me to invite them and that‘s often not affordable,“ he answered honestly, „what about you - how often do you invite people that work for you to dinner?“ He gave her a crooked smile.  
„You‘re the first one,“ she chuckled, „but I also never before had a lawyer..“ She took another sip of wine and locked eyes with him. A prickling feeling grew in her stomach, she was flirting with him and she was sure that he noticed.  
„She never had had a lawyer before“, Jimmy thought, he knew that she probably meant that this was the first time she had done something that was against the law and made her require a lawyer, but one could also understand it in a different way. He felt a strange kind of arousal, getting such attention from a client as stunning as her was quite unusual for him.  
He looked at her - a perfect grin lay on her lips.  
Betty knew that this sentence contained two messages. 

When they eventually left the restaurant Betty lit herself a cigarette and held out the package to Jimmy: „Do you want one?“  
„Well yes, thank you,“ he took one from the package and lit it. They walked towards his car.  
„Can I give you a lift somewhere? I feel like I kinda owe you for that dinner,“ Jimmy turned to Betty.  
„That‘d be too kind,“ she looked up, meeting his eyes. She took another drag from her cigarette, curling her lips around it and exhaling the smoke very slowly. Betty wanted this man. And if she wanted something she got it.  
Jimmy felt compelled. She was beautiful and - if he wasn‘t completely mistaken - quite obviously flirting with him. He was wondering whether it would be the right thing to do to just give in to the urge, which had been building in his chest ever since they had left his office, and just kiss her soft red lips and let his fingers wander over the thin blue fabric of her dress to massage her delicate breasts. It would most certainly would not be the right thing to do to sleep with his client. But when was the last time that he had done the right thing? Or at least when was the last time that he got rewarded with something - anything - for doing the right thing?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we go - some quick "in between" chapter, focusing on both their lives. 
> 
> (Als I write Betty to be 18 I changed the setting to England now, as I know that an 18yo sleeping with someone around 40+ is legal there)
> 
> also trigger warning: I mention eating disorders

Betty walked up the stairs to her small one-room apartment. The place wasn‘t luxurious, but it was enough for her. She had moved out half a year ago, after an huge fight with her dad over nothing. He had bullied her long enough already, always pulling things like calling her fat or wanting her to apply to the local gym, so she would „loose a pound - or ten“. By now she couldn‘t recall anymore when the first time had been that he had said such things to her, but Betty still knew when she had slipped from dieting into a full-on eating disorder. That had been four years ago and since then she had indeed lost about ten pounds, but never heard any compliment from her father. He was a fucking asshole and she was glad he wasn‘t around and harassing her anymore. And luckily for her her mother had married rich again and was glad to pay Betty an aliment that was more than enough. She didn‘t spend it all on rent, though, she was saving most of it for whenever she might need it - for paying a lawyer‘s bill, for example.  
Betty kicked her shoes off and walked into the bathroom to wash her hands. She looked at her reflection in the mirror - a smile was still lying on her lips. She felt actually happy - even after dinner. Going out and eating in public was something she rarely ever did, due to the eating disorder. She was getting better at dealing with it, but going to restaurants still stressed her. But tonight had been good and she was glad that they had gotten dinner. It had been a very good evening, Jimmy McGill was eloquent and fun company. Somehow he managed to tell the right amount of jokes in combination with a good amount of serious talk. Even if she didn‘t want to admit it, she liked the guy.  
The ringtone of her phone broke her stream of thoughts and she hurried out of the bathroom to answer it.  
It was Tess, her best friend.  
„How was it? Why didn‘t you answer your phone? I left you like a thousand messages.. What took you so long?“ Tess plastered her with questions.  
„Wait, just gimme a sec,“ Betty squeezed the phone between her shoulder and her ear then she walked to the fridge in her kitchen grabbed a bottle of rosé wine and poured herself a glass and returned with the full glass and the bottle to the small couch she owned. She placed the wine on the small table in front of her and sat down on the couch.  „I just got back from dinner and it seems that I had forgotten my phone here at home,“ she answered and took a sip of the rosé. It tasted quite good, considering that it was a two pound bottle.  
„How can you forget your phone? And why didn‘t we have dinner together, we haven‘t gone out in ages..“ Tess sounded hurt.  
„My lawyer invited me to dinner,“ Betty answered and took another sip of the wine.  
„He did what?“ now Tess sounded astonished.  
„Invited me to dinner - to the steak house downtown, it was fun,“ Betty chuckled lightly. Then she had to tell Tess every detail of the appointment and the evening.  
„..and you know he always held the doors open for me and so on, he‘s a real gentleman,“ Betty ended.  
„What did you wear?“  
„My blue dress.“ „Did he give you the look?“ Tess asked eagerly.  
„What look?“ Betty was confused. Tess was great but she had much more going on with many more guys than Betty did.  
„The ‚I would fuck you if I only could‘-look, you know,“ Tess explained.  
„Pheww, I don‘t know. There might have been a moment where he looked interested.. But I don‘t think that he gave me that look..“ Betty downed the rest of the glass of wine. It was the second one that she finished now.  
„And you aren‘t interested in him? I mean you had dinner with him after just meeting him,“ Tess asked, again in an eager way.  
„Tess,“ Betty sighed, „I can‘t sleep with the guy. He‘s my lawyer and perhaps he‘s married or something.“ Now it was Tess who sighed on the other end of the line.  
„You know, sometimes I really don‘t get you.. You sure as hell could get some action with that guy.. Why not take what you can get?“ 

\---

Jimmy drove through the night. Deep Purple was playing and he was smoking the last cigarette of his pack. He would have to go and buy new ones tomorrow. If he could afford them. He had insisted on paying the dinner and now he hadn‘t much money left for the month. But the dinner had been worth every penny. Betty Hardman was good company - she was smart and had a good type of humor. He hadn‘t had such a good talk for a very long time and was surprised that she had been the one that he could talk with so well. Jimmy hadn‘t thought so, considering her age. But the exception proves the rule. He drove into the parking lot in front of the nail salon and killed the engine. He walked over to the glass door, let himself in and locked the door behind him. Then he got himself his bottle of vodka from his office and sat down in one of the massage chairs in the nail salon. The leather of the chair felt cold against his back, but after he turned the chair on, it warmed itself up and began to massage him. He leaned back, closed his eyes and took a sip of vodka. Still the picture of his client in her blue dress appeared in his head. She had looked good and it had taken him some work not to look at her in a way as if he was going to rip the blue fabric off of her body within the next seconds. Jimmy at least hoped that it had worked and that she hadn‘t noticed how intrigued he‘d been by her. Two massages and a good amount of vodka later he wondered whether her mentioning that she never before had had a lawyer had been a proposal for more or whether it had just been an unlucky choice of words. Jimmy sighed, feeling the muscles in his back finally relax and drank some more vodka. He hoped that it had been a proposal for something more.


	3. Chapter 3

The second time that Betty walked over the parking lot towards the nail saloon the sun was shining. It was a hot summer day and she was wearing a black cotton skirt with white dots as well as a black top and black suede heels, somehow she had forgotten to put on a bra, but didn‘t mind.  
She had another appointment with Mr. McGill. He wanted to go through a view more details of the events of New Year‘s Eve and she had gladly agreed to come over to his office for another talk. It had been two weeks since the first appointment and since their talk over coffee and dinner her thoughts had constantly been returning to the lawyer in the grey suit and the tie that had been just a little too colorful for his whole outfit.  
Betty knocked on the wooden door and waited. Again she was nervous, but in an excited way. 

„Hello Miss Hardman,“ Jimmy gave her a warm smile as he opened the wooden door to his office. They shook hands again and she walked into his office and sat down on the visitor‘s chair, glancing over to her lawyer. He closed the door and walked up to his desk. Betty let her eyes wander over the man‘s body - this time he was wearing a black suit with grey stripes, a white shirt and a red striped tie. Betty noticed that the tie seemed just slightly too bright again, but she liked it anyway.

He sat down behind his desk and met her eyes. „How are you doing?“ he asked.  
„Kinda alright, uhm.. the police called me and wanted to talk with me about the results of my blood test.. I told them that they should send it all to you, I hope that was the right thing to do?“ Betty was nervously playing with her fingers.  
„It was the right thing to do,“ Jimmy gave her a warm and reassuring smile, „they sent me the copies of your police record and the results of the blood test,“ he looked at the papers in front of him, „they state here that your blood alcohol level was somewhere between 0.14 and 0.18 per cent.“ He exhaled sharply.  
„That‘s quite a lot, considering that - according to the police - you didn‘t seem very drunk otherwise,“ the lawyer looked at Betty.  
„Uhm, well I might have been under shock? You know, when the airbags opened I really was shocked and scared,“ she answered.  
„Ah yes, shock - that‘s good. We can use that for your defense, `cause, you know, they‘ll say that having this BAC you should have seemed more drunk except if you‘d be used to drinking, which you aren‘t, right?“  
„Well, I drink sometimes, with friends.. or just at home, you know?“ Betty answered nervously, still playing with her fingers. She drank often when she was alone. The warm feeling the alcohol gave her made her feel comfortable.  
„Hm,“ the lawyer nodded and wrote something down, „We will find a way to explain it all,“ he gave her another reassuring smile, „I‘ve won worse cases than yours.“  
They went on discussing the matter for another half‘n hour. Betty felt that she was slowly easing up again, enjoying the way he talked and explained to her what all the laws meant and how things would proceed from here.

Jimmy met her eyes again, he was answering the questions she had as good as he could - considering that he was trying his best not to look into her eyes for too long and to keep his eyes from wandering down from her face. The top she was wearing hugged her slender figure perfectly and made it hard for him not to stare. He had quickly noticed that she wasn‘t wearing anything beneath the top and kept wondering whether she had simply forgotten to put on a bra or whether she was wearing the top this way intentionally. Any way it turned him on more than he liked to admit. His thoughts shouldn‘t wander in such a direction.  
_„She is too young, and you‘re turning into the creepy old man that‘s staring after young women,“_ he told himself, although without any success.  
„How about another coffee?“ Betty asked, shaking him from his thoughts back to reality.  
„Sounds like a plan, Miss Hardman,“ he nodded, his eyes wandering over her file again, checking whether he had talked with her about everything that he needed to discuss with her. Indeed they were finished for today.  
He stood up and walked around his table to hold the door of his office open for her. Betty got up as well and walked towards him.  
„Thank you, Mister McGill,“ she looked at him as she walked through the door, winking at him playfully. He chuckled and followed her after locking his office.  
They drove to the café downtown again where he killed the engine of his car and got out. It was a hot summer day so they sat down on a table outside. This time it was Betty who got the coffees. 

When Betty stepped out of the café, a cup of coffee in each hand, Jimmy was leaning back in his chair. In his left hand was a cigarette, his eyes were closed and he seemed to be enjoying the sun that was shining down on his face. A soft smile lay on his lips. Betty noticed that his hair seemed to begin to turn from brown into salt&pepper. She felt a flash of affection. And immediately tried to push these feelings away.  
_„He‘s much too old for you and anyway, it‘s probably illegal to sleep with a lawyer if you‘re their client,“_ she thought to herself, setting the cups down onto the table and sat down on the chair next to her lawyer. At the sound of the porcelain hitting the wooden table Jimmy opened his eyes and looked at her.  
„Thank you,“ he sat up straight again and took the cup nearest to himself, „one minute longer and I would‘ve dozed off,“ he chuckled.  
„Sounds like my timing was perfect then,“ Betty answered, with a soft voice. He offered her a cigarette and she took one. For a moment they just sat there in silence, enjoying the warmth of the sun, their coffee and the smoke.  
 „You know, you‘re a remarkable person,“ Jimmy suddenly broke the silence.  
„Why thank you,“ Betty looked surprised, „what makes me so remarkable, if I might ask?“  
„The way we could talk the last time we had coffee here and then dinner. I‘ve thought about it a little and I think I never met anyone your age who was as smart as you are,“ Jimmy stubbed out his cigarette and looked at her again. Betty had the feeling that her cheeks turned bright red, she stirred two zero cal sweetener tablets into her coffee and took a sip, hoping that she didn‘t blush.  
„Thanks for the compliment,“ she looked up from her cup gave him an honest smile.  
„No, I mean it, you‘re one of a kind.“  
„Yeah well, those folks around me suck. I mean just look how they‘re dressed,“ Betty nodded in the direction of two teens walking by. The girl was dressed in a crop top, a skirt that barely covered her ass and white sneakers, the boy wore a far too big shirt with some „hipster“ print on it and khaki jeans, the pant legs rolled up so that one saw his ankles and his feet stuck in sneakers that looked just like the girl‘s only his were bright red.  
„It‘s awful,“ Betty shook herself, „and the music they listen too..“  
Jimmy chuckled and took a sip from his coffee.  „What do they listen to?“  
„Just about everything that makes you wanna run away,“ Betty laughed, „HipHop, Techno.. This kinda stuff. But you know it‘s the _bad_ Techno and HipHop they listen to. Where are the people who appreciate Black Sabbath or Deep Purple?“ Mentioning the rock bands Jimmy‘s eyes widened for a moment. He poured some sugar into his coffee.  „So you listen to classic rock?“ he figured, taking a small spoon and stirring his coffee.  
„Mostly, yes.. Some metal here and there, too,“ Betty took another cigarette. The lawyer lit it for her and took another one for himself.  
„You become more and more interesting,“ he admitted, exhaling some smoke.  
„Ah come on, I just have a decent taste in music and I hate our consumerism,“ she frowned, „most people around here judge your character based on what clothes and shoes you wear, not your actual character..“ she sighed, „I mean that makes no sense! But you know, I rather have five good friends that are real friends and don‘t care about my clothes rather than fifty fake ones that won‘t stand beside me when I‘d need them.“  
Jimmy nodded: „Yeah, I know exactly what you‘re talking about. But as I said, it makes you really one of a kind - it‘s rare that folks your age recognize those things.. It took me twenty-eight years to understand this.“ He stubbed out his cigarette and took another sip of his coffee.  
„Well, then I‘m quite glad that I got to this point now already," she chuckled, "so I won‘t be wasting any more time on wrong friends,“ her coffee was empty and she leaned back in her chair and let her eyes wander over the man next to her. She noticed that he had long, elegant fingers. He emptied his cup of coffee and turned to her. His blue eyes wandered over her face.  
Jimmy hated the fact that he just finished his coffee and now didn‘t have anything anymore that he could focus on whilst talking to her. He found the young woman next to him incredibly attractive and felt like he couldn‘t pull his eyes away from her. To his surprise she didn‘t seem to bother, in fact she answered his gaze.

Betty had the feeling that her pulse was racing at the speed of light, she felt this warm tingling feeling spread inside her chest. And she ached to kiss the man next to herself. Jimmy's eyes were still locked with hers.  
„Betty?“ a voice suddenly asked and she looked in the direction of the one who was talking to her. It was Tess, she was standing in front of the table.  
„What are you doing here?“ Betty sounded confused and still a bit startled. Tess was going to university in a town three hours from the one where Betty lived, so it certainly wasn't usual that she just _appeared_ here, seemingly out of nowhere.  
„I just had my last exam yesterday and now I‘ve got holidays,“ Tess answered, looking curiously at Jimmy, then meeting Betty's eyes again and raising an eyebrow.  
„Why didn‘t you ring me up and tell me that you were coming here?“ Betty asked, ignoring Tess's glance.  
„Well, I wanted to surprise you,“ Tess chuckled.  
„You definitely managed to do that,“ Betty laughed and nodded at the chair next to her, „sit down.“  
„So, who‘s your company?“ Tess gave Jimmy another curious glance.  
„James McGill, I‘m Miss Hardman‘s lawyer,“ Jimmy held out his hand and Tess shook it.  
„So, you‘re the one who‘s gonna safe my friend‘s ass, huh?“ Tess cocked her head and looked Jimmy up and down, „I‘m Tess, by the way.“  
„You can put it that way, if you want,“ Jimmy agreed and nodded, grinning at Betty.  
Saving her ass didn‘t sound too bad, that ass was definitely worth saving. He regretted this thought almost immediately although it was the brutal truth.  
"Having coffee with your client, huh?" Tess leaned towards Jimmy and cocked her head slightly, her light green eyes wandering over him.  
"It was too sunny outside, to discuss the case inside an office," he answered and gave her a polite but set smile, he felt judged by her.  
"Come, we'll get you a cup of coffee, do you want one more, too?" Betty turned to him.  
"I'd be glad to," he gave her some money. Betty and Tess got up and walked inside the café again. Jimmy looked after them. Tess was a red-head, she wore all black clothes which seemed to be gothic style. Her asking all these question made him somewhat nervous.  
_"You aren't doing anything forbiden, having coffee with a client is an absolutely legitimate thing to do. Stop stressing around, Jim,"_ he told himself and plucked another cigarette from his pack. It was almost empty again. And, apart from the money he had just given to Betty, he had £24 left on his bank account. He sighed and lit the cigarette.   
Betty and her friend returned to the table and Betty placed his new cup of coffee in front of him.  
"There you go," she gave him a quick grin and sat down next to him again.  
The three of them got into a conversation about music, festivals and whether live DVDs were worth their money.  
It was Tess‘s phone ringing that interrupted their talk.  
„Yes?“ she answered the call. After a while of listening to the caller and occasional „mhm“s, „hm“s and „yeah“s she frowned.  
„Now?! Seriously.. .. No, I don‘t want to, but if you demand me to,“ she sighed, „yeah, alright, give me ten minutes ... Bye,“ she hung up and looked at Betty and Jimmy.  
„My mum, she wants me to come and help her with her PC, apparently she ‚broke it‘ but she needs it fixed as soon as possible. I‘m sorry, but I gotta hurry,“ she got up and gave Betty, who‘d stood up as well, a hug.  „See ya later, Betty,“ she said and hurried towards her car. 

„Shall we get going, too?“ Jimmy asked, he‘d gotten up and walked around the table to stand next to Betty.  
„Sure, I mean, I don‘t wanna mess up your schedule, anyway,“ Betty apologized.  
„To be honest - there isn‘t much to mess up, your my only client currently,“ he grinned at her, „let‘s go, I found a great Mexican restaurant last week, I‘ll invite you to dinner.“

**Author's Note:**

> please leave reviews!
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________________________
> 
> the inspiration for the title came from an actual case file..  
> (in case you wondered)


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